22 Congressmen Urge U.S. to End Program of Training Arab Military Officers

A bi-partisan group of 22 Congressmen is supporting a resolution to be introduced in the House tomorrow demanding the immediate end to U.S. military aid to the Arab states. The resolution was drafted by Rep. Richard L. Ottinger, a New York Democrat seeking his party’s senatorial nomination. He has charged that “the continued training and equipping of Arab soldiers” by the U.S. “is unconscionable at a time when Israel’s very existence is threatened.” He urged the sale of U.S. military equipment to Israel. According to Rep. Ottinger. the U.S. is training 589 Arab military officers this year under a program which has provided more than a billion dollars to Arab regimes during the past decade. The Ottinger resolution calls on the President to “take immediate steps to terminate every form of military assistance to any belligerent Arab nation, including those harboring or assisting Arab terrorist groups or guerrillas.”